Since their introduction in the late 1980s, therapeutic monoclonal antibodies have transformed cancer care at the VA and elsewhere, offering clinicians highly specific tools to target malignant cells while sparing normal tissue. The introduction of bispecific antibodies a decade ago offered more targeted therapies.
Bispecific antibodies (BsAbs) are expanding treatment options across hematologic malignancies and a growing number of solid cancers, but putting them into practice—especially in a large, geographically dispersed system like the VA—requires deliberate planning, training, and safety infrastructure.
As the veteran population continues to age, bispecific antibodies (BsAbs) and bispecific T-cell engagers (BiTEs) are emerging as an important therapeutic class for blood cancers that disproportionately affect older adults and especially older veterans.
Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a particularly lethal form of lung cancer that progresses quickly and metastasizes early. SCLC represents about 14% of all lung cancers, but its aggressive biology and rapid development of resistance mechanisms that render treatments futile make it particularly challenging to treat—making new therapeutic approaches such as bispecific antibodies and bispecific T-cell engagers especially keenly sought.